Passive
by Secret Keeper Thirteen
Summary: One Uryu Ishida contemplates his lot as he mock-fights with his friend/enemy/crush Ichigo Kurosaki.


5/8/11 3:26am

Note: This is my first fic. reviews, criticism, checking would be lovely! :) i hope you like it. i don't know about this pairing but something about it felt right when i was rewatching episodes 140-146 tonight :3

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters hereafter portrayed.

**Passive**

The dark haired teen looked across the underground training field to where his friends Ichigo and Chad were standing.

"Uryu! Hey! Get your ass over here!" Ichigo shouted peevishly, waving a hand in the air.

_Hmph_, Uryu thought. _Always so impatient. One of these days.._. He walked briskly in his friends' direction until he realized what he could do. A smile pulled at the edges of his lips and his heart beat a bit faster.

It wasn't until he had gotten halfway up a hill before the other two realized that Uryu had changed which way he was walking.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ichigo's shout rose loud in the comparative silence but –

_TZZZZ_

An arrow from Uryu's bow went whizzing by the orange-head's shoulder. Ichigo's answering shout made it worth the next volley of arrows, which were already in midair.

Uryu grinned now, running up the slope, speeding up his pulse and shooting arrows over the edge at Ichigo.

His Ichigo.

_TZZZZ_ – he sent off more arrows.

He heard Ichigo shouting at him and jumping around to avoid his weak but numerous shafts of spirit energy. Uryu was sure that pretty soon Ichigo would give up trying to dodge, but right now, he was enjoying the sight. His friend was practically dancing in place, although the choreographer of such a dance would have been ashamed to see it performed so shoddily.

_TZZZZ_ – one barely grazed Ichigo's right ear.

Uryu laughed out loud to see his friend make a face somewhere between annoyance, extreme irritation, and acknowledgement of the spectacle he was the center of. Uryu was always interested to see the faces Ichigo made, because whether he was upset or ecstatic, the depth of expression never ceased to amaze him.

_TZZZZ_

Uryu reached the top of the hill and stood on the cliff, giving a moment's pause.

"Come on, Ichigo! Are we going to train or not?" he taunted loudly, a smirk across his pale face. He briefly noticed Chad sitting down, leaning against a boulder as he watched the show.

Ichigo's answering "Getsuga TENSHOU!" resounded as he threw the crescent of power towards Uryu.

Uryu leapt off the cliff and as he fell, avoiding Ichigo's blow, he remembered when Chad had finally confronted him. _Well, it wasn't exactly a confrontation, I suppose_, he thought logically, as he saw again the look on Chad's face when he told him he understood, when he said he knew why Uryu was always arguing with the orange-head, why he was so close with Orihime without being anything more than friends, why Uryu was constantly trying to avoid helping Ichigo even though he wanted to do everything he could for him – and how he himself had pushed his glasses further up on his nose as he explained in terse words that _Of course _he wouldn't say anything, and _Of course_ he wouldn't ever try to make anything happen.

Uryu's feet hit the ground and he immediately took off, running in a course that would keep him as far as possible from Ichigo, who he could see was pursuing him with his blade ready to swing again.

Uryu knew that Chad was the only person he could trust with the knowledge besides Orihime.

The grin was fixed on his face and he let out a sharp burst of laughter as he came over a rise in the terrain, Ichigo following behind him and gathering speed with an increase of his output power. Ichigo was hardly breaking a sweat and although he was caught up in the chase, his eyes glinted amusement and the enjoyment of battle which was always a part of him.

Sometimes he wished he could tell Ichigo, but the boy, man, shinigami, vizard, fullbringer already had enough to handle without worrying about a friend getting too friendly. He had never been one for relationships anyway. The truth was, neither had Uryu.

Despite Uryu's innate speed Ichigo caught up with him. Every time they did this, he caught up to him slightly faster than before, and Uryu was slightly proud of the progress, although he was somewhat peeved at his own lack thereof. He might have feelings for the man but that only made him more competitive.

Ichigo came up alongside Uryu with his usual self-assured grin and a newly mischievous look in those brown eyes. Uryu's mood snapped to partial annoyance and he tried to imagine what kind of trick his friend was up to now, since he didn't have anything prepared to fight against the zanpakutou.

Ichigo pulled closer with Uryu on his right as they were still both running at top speed across the packed dirt, and as he shifted Zangetsu to his left hand his eyebrows pushed downward and his mouth pulled his expression impossibly wider.

Ichigo's right hand shot out and grabbed Uryu's wrist. Uryu's eyes widened –

His heart skipped a beat – what was going on? – "Ichigo, what are you-?" – an impossibly conflicted facial expression –

And suddenly he was flying through the air as he was flipped high over Ichigo until he hit the ground with a loud _THWUMP_ a few seconds later.

Ichigo had stopped running and was doubled over in laughter, Zangetsu on the ground and his hands on his knees.

Uryu stood up and brushed himself off with an air of anger and indignation. Straightening the lay of his perfectly fitted clothes – he had made them himself - he stuck his nose high in the air and began shouting nonsense at Ichigo. He berated Ichigo for something, he couldn't quite tell what was spewing from his mouth, because he actually was amused by the whole ending of their conflict and he had a sneaking suspicion that Ichigo knew it and found that fact the funniest thing of all.

Uryu inwardly savored the view of Ichigo's rare full laugh, as he finished his spluttering. As Ichigo was letting out his last few chuckles towards the haughtily retreating white-clothed back presented to him, Uryu's face reddened slightly as he felt again the sensation of Ichigo's hand on his wrist. He was glad he was faced away from his tormentor, although he knew Chad, who was currently watching him intently, would have a field day expressing the story to Orihime later.

He cursed himself for allowing the thought to cross his mind that Ichigo could have been actually taking his hand. Uryu knew that he knew better than to think things like that. But he just couldn't help it when he spent so much time with the clueless man. He knew it was hopeless.

Uryu looked back over and saw that Ichigo had already flash-stepped back to Chad's side and was waving him over again, an easy smile with a hint of smugness on his face. Uryu complied, making his face show a beaten indignance. Acting? He could be good at that seeing how much he hid from his best friend.

He knew it was hopeless. But the friendship, the feeling, the incurable appetite for argument which seemed to run hot in both of them – it was enough.


End file.
